Sweet things call for special containers, don’t they? Handcrafted in the renowned Serghini Workshops, your lovely new sugar bowl will make adding that delicious lump (or two!) that much more delightful.
Serghini Workshops is a studio founded by master ceramicist, Moulay Ahmed Serghini, whose family has been passing the craft down from one generation to the next since 1830.
But Serghini’s legacy has been more than the just the craft of clay. Throughout his lifelong career, his studio became a place where his students turned their lives around, growing out of poverty and into self-sufficient master ceramicists themselves. To this day, Serghini Workshops sets wages above minimum levels, provides healthcare and pension plans, and guarantees safe working conditions. Sweet deal!
Suggested use: Fill with your choice of sweetener. Keep on the countertop or bring out for coffee time!
Abdelhak is an example of an artisan whose life was turned around by working with the Serghini Workshops. Abdelhak started his career at an early age to support his parents. At 18, he joined the workshops under the tutelage of Moulay Ahmed Serghini, who trained him in the traditional art of Moroccan ceramics. Years later, he became known as one of the best painters in his city.
At Serghini Workshops, it’s all about loyalty and lineage. Today, Abdelhak is 50 years old and still working with the workshops. He has even traveled to Tunisia to train others in the techniques Serghini transmitted to him. And the loyalty goes both ways. Abdelhak receives a fair wage, and has his healthcare and retirement plan provided for.
In the remote, bandit-strewn forests of Kenya, a group of woodcarvers arrive at the site of an olive tree, finding safety in their numbers. Together they fell the tree, split it up, and, right then and there, begin carving the basic forms of their wares into the soft, rich wood.
These “rough drafts” are then transported back to town where the, men gather under the canopy to carve them into completion in a relaxed, communal atmosphere.
The carvers of your lovely little spoon are members of the Kamba people in Kenya. Working in a cooperative structure not only keeps them safe in the woods, it also brings more prosperity to each individual than would be possible by competing against each other in the saturated local markets.
Suggested use: Measure your beans and/or stir in milk and sugar to create the perfect cuppa joe.
One day in 2009, in a remote Atsabe village, Brismo Gomes was doubled over in laughter. This is because Dean Cycon, owner of Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee, had just walked into his village and given a speech in Tetun, the local language. Although Brismo had been growing coffee for years, he had never seen such a thing. He was astonished that an American company would go so far as to learn the local language in the name of co-creating a meaningful, mutual relationship.
Today, Dean’s Beans continues to buy all the coffee grown in Atsabe, and to develop its relationship with the village. Every year, Brismo attends meetings with local growers to prioritize changes they would like to see. Then, with the support of Dean’s Beans, they make it happen. Some things that have happened recently include a solar-powered computer training program and a maternal health clinic.
Suggested use: Brew and enjoy!
Your new basket is the latest creation from our weaver friends in Oaxaca. It is the perfect countertop accessory for stashing things that are used just too darn often to put all the way away. Coffee maybe? Just a guess!
Meet Emilia Garcia Hernandez, a weaver who worked on this order of baskets. Emilia’s mother taught her to weave when she was 10 years old. Today she is 45, and thinking about what assets she can send her own daughter forward with.
Living with her husband and their five kids, Emilia uses her GlobeIn income to contribute to expenses for their large family. Her main focus is sending her daughter to university. One basket at a time, Emilia is saving to offer her daughter this incredible gift.
Suggested use: Fill with coffee packs or tea bags and place next to your stovetop or coffee maker.
